DW BUREAU / New Delhi

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Thursday conducted searches at various locations linked to the associates of Canada-based terrorist Goldy Brar in Punjab as part of its probe in an "extortion and firing case". The anti-terror agency also sought people's help for information about Satinderjit Singh alias Goldy Brar and his gang, according to an official statement.

A total of nine locations associated with Brar and his aides were searched by the NIA teams in connection with an extortion and firing case registered in Chandigarh, it said.

The searches come a day after the NIA filed a charge sheet against Brar and 11 others for their alleged involvement in the killing of Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi last year in Jaipur.

The NIA has also released telephone numbers, where people can share information about the terrorist and his associates or details of any threat calls they might have received from the gang.

The information can be shared on landline number 0172-2682901 or mobile number 7743002947 (for Telegram/ WhatsApp), the statement issued by the NIA said.

The identity of the informer will be kept a secret, it said.

The crackdown on Thursday was part of NIA's investigations into a case pertaining to demand for extortion money and firing of gunshots at the residence of a victim in Chandigarh.

The case was originally registered by the local police on January 20 this year and the NIA took over the probe on March 18.

"Today's searches covered the districts of Mohali, Patiala, Hoshiarpur and Fatehgarh Sahib, as part of the NIA's sustained crackdown on individual terrorists engaged in criminal-terrorist activities in India. Incriminating material, including digital devices, have been seized," the probe agency said.

Investigations so far have revealed that Brar, along with one Goldy of Rajpura (Punjab), had hatched a criminal conspiracy to generate funds by demanding extortion money from businessmen of Punjab, Chandigarh and surrounding areas, the NIA said.

They were also providing arms and ammunition to members of terrorist gangs formed by Brar, the statement said.

"They were additionally involved in smuggling and sale of narcotics and channelisation of the proceeds from these sales," it said.

As per NIA investigations, Brar and his associates, based abroad, were continuously recruiting vulnerable youth into their gangs, using them for identification of extortion targets, firing in front of houses of those targets who refuse to pay the extortion money, and inducing them in sale and purchase of narcotics, weapon smuggling etc.

Brar, also known to be a key member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, had claimed responsibility for the murder of popular Punjabi singer Shubhdeep Singh Sidhu, popularly known as Sidhu Moosewala, on May 29, 2022.
(editor@dailyworld.in)